“I always knew you were too strong for your own good. From the moment I met you, I sensed it. Such raw strength, such an ability...it cannot be contained for long inside a Mirabellian body. It was meant for a full Exonian. Someone like your mother, who failed to realize that the mission must come before all other things. Even family. Even love.” Darai smiled cruelly. “Those are the things that make us weak. Klaren’s power, the power you inherited? It was wasted on her, and we cannot allow it to be wasted on you.”

Darai and Valen had no lost love between them. The two had always spoken boldly to one another, Valen usually with more acid in his words than Darai. But this? This was an entirely new level of boldness, one that Valen knew the adviser wouldn’t show if Nor were here.

“My sister wouldn’t stand for you speaking to me in such a way,” Valen said.

He wanted so badly to rise from his bed and leave the room. But he was too weak. His limbs, despite having rested, still felt like they were full of lead. And each breath still came with effort, as if a weight was sitting upon his lungs.

Darai shook his head. “Your sister is doing the one thing I warned her never to do. She put her love for Zahn in front of her focus on the mission. She’s lost track of it now.”

“She’s mourning,” Valen said defensively. “Zahn was half of her heart.”

Darai nodded, worrying his hands together, the strange scars on his skin catching Valen’s eye. Whatever he’d been through in his earlier years in Exonia...the man must have survived a unique version of hell to have gotten those. And the ones on his face were far deeper.

“What are you even here for?” Valen asked. “Did you just come to advise me about my own failures? If so, I’m not interested.”

Darai shook his head, leaning forward in his chair. “Quite the opposite. I came here to tell you the truth. To open your eyes to the reality of what’s to come, Valen.” His eyes took on a strange gleam. “I’ve waited in this galaxy for far too many years. Your mother failed to free Exonia, and your sister has nearly failed me, too, falling prey to love. She loved Xen Ptera too much. She loved Zahn too much. And now she loves you too much. I warned her not to form a bond with you, that you would be, in many ways, greater than she ever could be, and such greatness cannot be contained. That’s why, thanks to your part bringing about Zahn’s death, the love Nor once had for you is gone. Fractured beyond repair.”

Valen felt like he was spinning, listening to the old man’s words.